Paprium Has Been Pushed Back… Again

Shocker, Paprium has been pushed back again! This time with the presumption it’ll be out in October of 2018 for the 30TH anniversary of the MegaDrive aka Genesis. Details are extremely vague at this point, even the release date was vague and unspecific. The one specific they did give was that the Datenmeister doesn’t work… According to Fonzie from Watermelon Games that there was a manufacturing issue which he gives 0 details about. What I do know is that Watermelon Games was banking on this game using this semiconductor which betters the audio and the Meg power of the game… Let’s break this down, over one year ago Watermelon Games announces the Datenmeister chip on the 24th of March 2017… 3 days later the funding campaign starts exactly one year later were told the big bad semi conductor watermelon games developed for Paprium is garbage and will no longer be used….

Does not having the Datenmeister effect smoothness of gameplay? Will it effect sound and music? Will it effect the colors and how many sprites can be on screen? What will now be the overall expected performance of the game? None of these questions answered. Also not to be a total dick but backers were promised this game would be running the Datenmeister because you’re no longer using this pricey semi conducter what are using in its place? Does it have the same cost? Was the initial sale price reflecting the Datenmeister being used? If so what are we getting in return for our investment if something less expensive and less premium is being used?

Dongled aka Miketendo a YouTuber who’s bread and butter is RetroGames sounded off on his channel about the delay (video here) , this brought the music composer of Paprium to the discussion in which he shared this,

His comment while positive set off some red flags for me… Here was my response to his post.

This all raises concerns, an ost that was completed 4 years before the announcement of Paprium… How can you make an Ost without actually having a game as a guide? How do you set the tone, musical transitions due to gameplay or things changing in levels when the music has been done for years! … How does not having the Datenmeister effect this, will it effect the music or sound effects or the quality of music/sounds? Who knows… You can read what Fonzie wrote on Facebook… Ya not the official paprium.com though I guess it was too hard to copy and paste.

I want to have high hopes for this, I really do. But I’m very skeptical at this point.

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for your patience. It’s been exactly one year since we started taking orders for PAPRIUM (and a couple more years of wait for our hardcore MGF fans), It’s been extremely stressful year for everyone, we bet.

Regarding what’s going on:

We had an issue with the “DATENMEISTER” chip-set manufacturing which resulted in some last minute changes. I’ve worked round-the-clock for the last couple of weeks to find a workaround and been very scarce on updates, my apologies.

In the next (couple) days we have to adjust the game to reflect those changes. Moreover, in the mean time, there will be an additional round of QC and testing.

Rest assured everyone involved has been working hard to solve all the issues and ensure a superior product. Our aim is to deliver the ultimate Mega Drive / SEGA Genesis game, in time for the system 30’th anniversary.

For people who wait has ran out (well understandable) – as usual – we offer a full refund. Please contact the support at bottom of WM’s magical game factory page for details or questions.

Thanks everyone for your comprehension, and my sincere apology for the lack of news.

PS: We are also sending this message through newsletter, it could take several hours for dispatch, thanks for your understanding.

3 thoughts on “Paprium Has Been Pushed Back… Again”

The game has been in development much longer than just the last couple years, chances are the composers were working with the team quite a while ago to build a score for the game. I’m willing to bet the Watermelon team had most of the game’s theme, environments, characters, concepts, etc outlined long ago, it’s not a stretch to consider they brought Jredd and Groovemaster in at the time, too.

whatever purpose the “Datenmeister” is supposed to serve must have been relatively integral for the final product that Watermelon Games was hoping to deliver; I don’t know whether they designed the chip from the ground up, or simply repurposed an existing chip. Watermelon said it was a manufacturing error, which is kind of out of their hands. It’s not fair to blame that on them, though I concede if they DID design a custom chip, we don’t (and may never) know whether it was their error in design before they commissioned production.

This post on a French forum sheds at least little more light:http://www.gamopat-forum.com/t97691p900-topic-officiel-project-y-paprium#2779646
Google Translated:
Fonzie contacted me after a long moment of silence (as usual ^ ^). Visibly he really encountered problems with the embedded dSP in the cartridge, they were left on an ASIC solution but it was not stable, random communication .. a lot of problems. They had to go back to another solution (fpga) that work well a priori but which is also more expensive for the manufacture of the cartridge

All that aside, I threw down for the game whenever the opportunity first arose, and I’m not upset in the slightest. I have plenty of other things to do in my spare time than feverishly and impatiently wait for something by a small group of people, who aren’t professionals, likely aren’t working full-time, who have encountered issues likely outside the scope of their control. As it stands, warm weather is around the corner, and I’ll be in my garage or outside at nearly every opportunity between now and October, so I’m not gonna be playing any games anyway.

I’ve also quickly become a fan of Trevin Hughes (Jredd)’s music over the past few years, so I’m absolutely more than willing to wait longer for the game to come out. He’s personable and down to earth any time he engages in conversations on Facebook, too. His music is great, and I’m sure it will be a big part of Paprium’s presentation.

On that note, Tiido is also a pretty cool dude. I’ve talked with him a bit years ago when I ordered a CCAM module from him and encountered some difficulty with it. He knows what he’s doing and is very skilled at pushing the Genesis’ hardware to its limits/.

My experience interacting with at least these two people who happen to have relation to the project is another reason I’m happy to still wait. When I gave money through the kickstarter, it wasn’t just because I wanted a game, it was because I wanted to support the team of people who were trying to make it happen. They’re dedicated fans to the Genesis and its legacy as much as any of the rest of us, so I don’t think it’s fair to sow seeds of contempt just because the project hasn’t been a model of perfect game production. It’s also being built from scratch, not built off of pre-existing code, and being designed to run on 30 year old original hardware rather than a lot of other indie games that can look the part but simply run on a contemporary operating system.

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